


The Curious Case of Cheryl Blossom

by NotANerd133



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, Appearances by other characters will happen, Cheronica is life, Drama, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, NOT A ONE SHOT, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-10-02 05:49:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10210937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotANerd133/pseuds/NotANerd133
Summary: She peeked through the peephole she created using just her bare hands and a knife. Bright red hair flared across her back in waves, her blue eyes catching movement on the other side of her bedroom wall. Why did nobody tell her about her new neighbor?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fandom has so many ships to ship and honestly I had a hard time deciding which ship to write first. Once this is complete, either Bughead or Beronica is next. I love those so much.

People trotted about the penthouse lobby. A mother and her three boisterous children. The bellboy and his overly quiet accomplice. Girls in their possible early twenties lost in conversation while wet haired and bikini covered. But there, among the crazy sea of human beings, was _her._

Veronica Lodge wheeled her two piece luggage set around the ground floor, awed and dazzled. Having spent most her life cooped up at her parent's mansion, she never knew common household's could be so...fascinating. The mere thought of spending time with those her age sounded pretty good to Veronica. It wasn't hard to charm nor show decent manners.

Surely, everybody in this building would grow to love her. Wouldn't they?

"Ms. Lodge?"

She spun with grace and smiled lightly at the man who addressed her. "Charles. Great to see you. How's life been treating you since we left?"

He looked fairly adequate, adorning his signature black and white pant suit. Veronica and her family had known him for a long time. He's part of the reason she's here in the first place. As a kid, the first thing he ever told her was that if she ever needed a place to stay, she could stay here. A home away from home.

"I've been good, Ronnie. So, want me to help ya with your bags?"

She waved him off, but made sure to kiss his cheek before she left. "No. I'll take it from here. Thanks for the offer. Give my mother a call, will you?"

He nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be in the lobby if you need me."

Without any hesitation, Veronica Lodge set foot onto the elevator. It was going to be a very tiresome night.

_**/** _

She peeked through the peephole she created using just her bare hands and a knife. Bright red hair flared across her back in waves, her blue eyes catching movement on the other side of her bedroom wall. Why did nobody tell her about her new neighbor?

Sighing, Cheryl Blossom collapsed on her bed and closed her eyes. _Please_ , she thought. _No more nightmares tonight._

_**/** _

Veronica didn't have much to unpack. Just the belongings in her suitcases were enough. Although, she almost wished she had brought more with her. The barren closet, barely full dressers, plain white walls, and colorless curtains didn't remind her of home. _No, that's not it,_ she thought. _This place doesn't remind you of yourself._

She laid across her couch, flicking through TV channels for something to watch. Books she could read were back in her bedroom, but she wasn't going to go there. She had the sneaking suspicion someone was watching her. After all, she did hear a noise when she was settling in earlier. She'd check it out later though. Her bones ached and her head hurt.

She found a channel. _16 Candles_ was on. She was a Molly Ringwald fanatic.

_/_

"Don't you think this kind of behavior is unhealthy?"

Cheryl stopped her endless pacing, standing stock still in her kitchen doorway, and faced her friend, Josie McCoy. She knew she must of sounded panicky. "Josie, I invited you over to help me. You haven't done a damn thing since you arrived."

Josie rolled her eyes. Strapping her knapsack on her shoulders, she left Cheryl to her own devices, saying, "You might as well just talk to her, Cher. It should do you some good."

But when has talking gotten her anywhere?

_/_

She surmises sleep has finally dulled her vision. A visit to Charles could bring closure to her day, but she hasn't got a bit of energy left in her to make the trip downstairs. Yawning, Veronica leaves her comfy couch and goes to her bedroom.

Lights dimmed low, music on high, Veronica was ready for a good night's sleep…

Until she heard a yell. A very loud yell.

Her earplugs went flying as she hopped off her bed. Even in the dark, she saw the tiny sliver of light creeping in from a slight crack in the wall, right above her bed. Veronica wasted no time in checking it out. It was her fault for not doing it earlier.

A girl, her face scrunched and cherry red, shaking badly. She froze. Then, a cry.

Last time Veronica checked, neighbors weren't suppose to sit idly by and let someone's cries go unnoticed.

"Hello? How are you?" she spoke into the crack. The girl began to sniffle. Veronica smiled. "You listen to Adele? I do."

Ruffling on the other end.

And then she saw nothing.

_/_

Cheryl was there, hiding under her bed. _Mistake. You made a mistake._

_/_

"Hey," Veronica whispered, palms pressed hard into her wall. "You there? You okay?" and she couldn't stop the worry flooding her voice.

_/_

_You're gonna have to move eventually. You do know that, don't you?_

But Cheryl never does.


	2. Chapter 2

“Jason?” Cheryl stares into the big, bold eyes of her brother. Her face reveals the troubles of sleep deprivation.

He juggles a football between his hands, his bed a home, and throws her a smile. “Yeah, Cher?”

It's June. Thornhill is scorched. Her skin was sun-kissed, her feet barefoot.  Her clammy hands run along the edge of her jean skirt and she considers turning back around to go to her room. She stops hesitating once early morning rediscovers her; her mother, laying in nothing but a thinly veiled bikini on a beach chair and sipping a martini, speaking urgently to Cheryl’s father. The girl wouldn’t have cared what they discussed out by the poolside, but today was different.

Her peers, so consumed by their ever growing affection for Jason, weren’t going to attend her birthday party. You could hear her heartbreak floating in between the blue, chlorine filled water. She shifts further from the edge where her parents are, dipping under the waves to sit at the bottom of the pool. Being under was like being in the shower: nobody could hear her cries.

A noise snaps Cheryl out her daze. Once more, she remembers where she is again and keeps her face neutral. Jason is sitting up, waiting.

“Did you know?”

Jason hates the games she plays with him, but Cheryl knows her brother is anything but stupid.

Yet, for whatever reason, he's honest. “Yes.”

She steps closer to him, stabs her index finger into his chest. “Why?” The stabs turn to hits and she repeats, “Why, Jason? Why?” Her voice gets louder and tears threaten to fall.  

He should have lied.

_///_

Cheryl flees to her room. Slipping underneath the bed, she shuts her eyes closed. _Shut up, shut up, shut up! Stop thinking_ …

“Cheryl! Cheryl are you there?”

She's not a little girl anymore. She's a grown woman hiding under her bed from a pretty raven haired girl. At the sound of Josie’s voice, she breathes, goddammit, she breathes, and she's scared and terrified and shaking. That's how her therapist finds her; shaking and a crying mess.

She tunes out the sound of conversation between Josie and her therapist.

 _“_ C’mon Betty! She's obviously not okay!”

 Betty takes off her glasses, her gaze sharp. “Josie, her parents gave me limitations. I can't do what I've got no permission for. You know that.”

“She's failing. Did her pare mention that? I have been keeping Cheryl on her medication daily. If I didn't stop by for visits, she'd be dead--” 

“Please,” Betty pleaded with her former high school classmate, this meeting being more personal than she intended it to be. She took Josie's hand in hers, whispering, “Don't speak like that. I care just as much you do. But I'm a doctor first and foremost. I don't have the clearance to be with her 24/7. The Blossoms? They're insane. And once they find out you're a regular here, you're the one who's gonna end up dead.”

The knocks on the door jolted both women who weren't expecting any visitors. Betty glanced towards Josie. Josie quickly got up and answered the door.

There, clad in pajama bottoms and a tank top, was none other than Veronica Lodge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry guys. It's gonna be finished for sure :) This one's short but they will be longer later on.


End file.
